The baseball team at Paulding County High started their season off with a 5-0 record as they defeated five lower classification, non-region teams — all part of their new coach’s plan to boost their confidence.

“I set up the schedule so we would have some easier games at the top of the season. You could tell their confidence was low so I thought this would be good before we got into the region play,” said first-year head coach Zack Cook.

The Patriots kicked off the streak with a 6-5 victory over Haralson County in their season opener. The fifth game was won against Temple, 15-5, on March 4. However, for the last nonregion game of the young season, Paulding County suffered its first loss, 6-0, to South Cobb on March 6.

With the way the season has begun, Cook said the team is excited and they have done “really well.” Cook credited the players and the coaching staff with the victories they’ve seen thus far as he said they have put in a lot of effort and shown a lot of attention to detail.

Cook named four players as being key players thus far, all of which return from last season.

Senior pitcher Jacob Cooper has a 2-0 record this season. Sophomore pitcher and second baseman Dustin Gore has a 3-0 record as a pitcher this season. Junior shortstop Dylan Peeples, according to Cook, is “hitting the ball well.” Junior catcher Aaron King is the team’s most consistent hitter and was first team all-county last season.

Even though Cook has seen some good things out of his team and they are putting forth the effort that Cook would like, he said the team is still “trying to improve” and is focusing on learning more about the game and the fundamentals as the players still have a long way to go.

“We are still a long way from being able to compete with the teams in the region. We have to keep getting better,” Cook said.

With 16 region games scheduled for the rest of the season, Cook said he knows it is going to be a challenge for his players to keep up with their opponents.

“It’s going to be tough. There are so many good coaches and teams that we’ll have to work and fight to stick with them. We have to compete hard every day,” said Cook.

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